The U.S. federal government will fund New Mexico's full wildfire response, President Joe Biden said on Saturday speaking from Santa Fe amid anger from survivors over the blaze that was started by federal officials.
"We have a responsibility to help the state recover," Biden told elected officials and emergency responders at an afternoon briefing in New Mexico's capital, where he was reviewing efforts to fight the Southwestern state's biggest blaze in recorded history.
Driven by drought and wind, the fire has destroyed hundreds of homes in mountains northeast of Santa Fe since two prescribed burns by the U.S. Forest Service went out of control in April.Air Force One banked and circled around fire damage in New Mexico, allowing Biden to see burned forest and plumes of smoke from the sky before he landed and greeted Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and other elected officials who have called for more financial support from the federal government.
"This is not a natural disaster, this was man-made by a government entity," said Ella Arellano, whose family lost hundreds of acres of forest around the village of Holman. "It's a mess, just a big mess that will take generations to recover from."
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